GRIFTON, N.C. (WNCT) – A Lenoir County polling site lost power for about an hour Tuesday morning.

Although power has since been restored to Hugo Free Will Baptist Church, Chief Judge Mary Lou Johnson said the outage, which took place around 8:30 a.m., was stressful.

“We had several people in line,” said Johnson. “The ones who already got their ATV (authorization to vote) ballots got to go to the voting machine. They patiently waited in the line until that one voting machine helped them get through.”

There are only four voting machines there and only one was working on batteries.

“They are supposed to be all having batteries for at least an hour and a half,” Johnson said. “The batteries did not work so only one machine worked and we had about twenty-five people.”

9OYS was told the wait time was about 10 to 15 minutes, but it could change during busy times like lunch or dinner.

Johnson said many people who came to vote while the power was off left and came back later in the day.

WNCT-TV 9 On Your Side provides commenting to allow for constructive discussion on the stories we cover. In order to comment here, you acknowledge you have read and agreed to our Terms of Service. Commenters who violate these terms, including use of vulgar language or racial slurs, will be banned. Please be respectful of the opinions of others. If you see an inappropriate comment, please flag it for our moderators to review.